One Random Pack: 2018-19 Panini Donruss Optic rack pack

My mom just recently gifted me with this pack of Optic, which, don't get me wrong, was very nice of her, and thought behind it is certainly appreciated -- but in all honesty, this is a product that I don't really care about, and would've never bought any of for myself.

Again, I'm always grateful to someone when they give me something, but this is one of those instances where the money could have been saved, and even though I of course said thank you and all of that, I did try to gently get across the fact that this isn't something that was made with someone like me in mind, and that the money could've been better spent elsewhere.

I thought about asking her to take it back, but as a card collector you know how it goes, the old "what if there is actually something good in there?" thoughts got the better of me, so now I'm here today to see if there was actually anything good in there!

Seems to be the usual configuration here, three packs of four cards, and the bonus three card Blue Velocity pack. I thought it was kind of interesting to see that the BV pack is somewhat translucent, enough so that you can see who's on the front, and which rookie is in the back.


Pack #1

Not a good start!

Jeremy Lin: How is he still around? I hope that team's aren't still banking on the ten good games that he had 7 or 8 years ago. Plus there's the whole "always injured" thing.

Ben Simmons Express Lane insert: I've heard a lot about him, but I haven't ever seen him play. Supposedly he's put up some decent numbers during his first couple of seasons, but that doesn't do much for me, a lot of guys have done that, call me after he's consistently put up those same numbers for over a decade, and then we'll talk.

Spencer Dinwiddie: I know of him only from the two years of fantasy basketball that I tried, that's it.

Collin Sexton: No clue, but playing in Cleveland certainly doesn't bode well for him.

Keepers: None.


Pack #2

Better than the first pack.

Pau Gasol: Future HOFer. His parents should also be in a hall of fame somewhere for all of the good work that they've done over the years.

Kris Dunn: Interesting image on his card, sort of 90's-esque.

Marvin Bagley III: I remember hearing some hype about him a couple of years ago, but haven't read or heard anything else since.

Paul George Lock It Up insert: I'm starting to think that there's an insert in every pack, if so, it kind of devalues the specialness of getting an insert.

Keepers: Pau.


Pack #3

Looks like the second pack was the best.

Nikola Jokic: Another guy that's wowed those who tend to be easily impressed over his first couple of seasons, I'm a little more difficult to please.

Lauri Markkanen Franchise Futures insert: Yep, there's an insert in every pack, and apparently they all kind of look the same.

D'Angelo Russell: Tell me that he's not glad to be out of L.A.!

Kostas Antetokounmpo: Obviously he's one of Giannis' brothers, other than that I don't anything about him. Wasn't there another brother who already came and went from the NBA? I would have to imagine that all of these teams who are drafting Giannis' brothers are hoping that they turn out to be like him, and I suspect that none of them will.

Keepers: Giannis' brother, at least for a year or two... just in case!

Blue Velocity pack

These are really pretty cards, much more attractive than I thought they'd be.

Mikal Bridges: ???????

JJ Redick: He's stuck around a lot longer than I think most people thought he would.

Kevin Durant: Kevin looks like he's standing on the court and just reaching up to place the ball in the basket.

Keepers: Mikal (just in case he does something of note) and KD (I only have like three cards of his).

Overall, I'm not too impressed with the base cards, or the one per pack inserts. I'm not overly crazy about getting a rookie in each pack either, but I know that that's done for the modern collector/flipper... not for an old guy like me.

As usual, if anyone sees anything that they think they can't live without, don't be shy about saying so.


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One Random Pack: 2015 Panini Prizm football rack pack

I have about two dozen different unopened packs laying around, and I'm in desperate need for an occasional fluff post, so why not create a fluff series to showcase some of these random packs, yes? No? Well, honestly I don't really care what anyone thinks about it, I'm just gonna go ahead and do it anyway. Besides, if you don't like it, I'm only going to do one every couple of weeks, so it's not like you're going to be besieged by them or anything.

First up will be the Prizm rack pack that I got for Christmas:

If you've ever opened a Prizm rack pack before, you probably already know how they're configured, if not though, they're made up of 3 retail packs (4 cards in each pack), and 1 "bonus" pack of the red, white, and blue parallels (3 cards in that pack).

I have never opened any packs of Prizm football before, so this should be fun... no matter how it turns out.


Pack #1

This first pack wasn't too bad, I mean I'm at least familiar with three out of the four players so that's something.

Andrew Luck insert: Can he be referred to as a bust yet?

Garrett Grayson: No idea? I see that he's from Vancouver, WA though, a place that I called home for a few years. Maybe that small connection is enough to warrant a small player collection... is what I thought before checking COMC! There are currently 367 different cards of his sitting on the site, and 85 that are sold out - why does a guy who has yet to play a single down in the NFL have over 450 different cards? Oh well, no Garrett Grayson collection for me.

Von Miller: He was pretty good, but his cards are meh to me.

Warren Moon: Now were talking! He's the kind of player that I want to find when opening a pack.

Keepers: Warren Moon.



Pack #2

Well, at least the first pack wasn't too bad :)


Dorial Green-Beckham: Here's a surprise... never heard of him! He apparently got stopped a couple of months ago with 8 pounds of pot, and then decided to resist arrest, me thinks that he won't be back in the NFL anytime soon.

Tamba Hali silver prizm: Never heard of him either. He retired not too long ago, finished his career with 89.5 sacks, not bad for 12 seasons.

Randall Cobb: I remember him from his time at UK.

Julio Jones: And I remember him from his time at Alabama.

Keepers: None.


Pack #3

Finally... some color!

David Johnson: I've seen his name in print before, but that's about it.

Cordarrelle Patterson red prizm: No clue?

Lawrence Taylor: Yes!!!! But why couldn't he be the red prizm?

Torrey Smith: Nope?

Keepers: LT.



RW&B pack

Could've been better.

Denzel Perryman: I have ever mentioned how much I dislike modern rookie cards?

T.Y. Hilton: Decent player, but today's receivers bore me, things have been made too easy for them.

Matt Forte: Saw him play quite a bit, he was fun to watch early on in his career.

Keepers: Matt Forte

Overall it certainly wasn't the best rack pack ever, but it was still fun to open, especially since it'll probably be the only one from the 2015 set that I ever get to open. And as you may have noticed, there aren't too many keepers, so if anyone sees something that tickles there nether regions, don't be shy about speaking up.

On a completely unrelated note:

The first sign of Spring was seen here this past Friday, taking the form of this 2 foot long (and some change) juvenile black rat snake, who came out to soak up some sun (saw him/her in almost the exact same spot again yesterday). This is a very good sign, as the warm weather can't get here soon enough, at least in my opinion that is!


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.